Vehicle doors that comprise a latch mechanism and a corresponding actuator are known in the art. A latch mechanism disposed in the wing of the vehicle door is mechanically linked to a latch-releasing member, such as a door handle, and to a locking or unlocking member, which locks the latch by moving part of the latch mechanism into a position, in which it idles and cannot disengage the latch.
The coupling between the latch mechanism and an actuator in particular for unlatching of the latch mechanism usually takes the form of a pull or push rod. In most vehicle doors, an additional lock rod is provided, which is adapted to transmit the movement of a locking or unlocking member to the latch mechanism. The locking or unlocking member may be designed as a key cylinder and may be disposed in an actuator, such as a handle module, being typically arranged at the outer door panel.
The locking or unlocking member is adapted to switch the latch mechanism either into an idle state or into an active position. In the active position, a movement of a latch-releasing member, such as an inside or outside handle of the vehicle door, may be used in order to disengage the latch mechanism and to open the vehicle door. Even though the coupling between an actuator and the latch mechanism by means of a push/pull rod provides a reliable mechanical coupling, improvements are continually sought for existing assemblies.
GB 1 442 394 discloses a vehicle door having a latch assembly and a locking member, which is movable to a locking position such that subsequent movement of an unlatching member is not transmitted to a detent of the latch assembly. Further, there is provided a latch releasing actuator being connected to the unlatching member by means of an unlatching rod. A further rod is arranged close to the unlatching rod and extends in substantially the same direction. The two rods are arranged in such a manner, that in the event of lateral distortion of the further rod, the resultant tensile force exerted by the further rod on said component of the latch assembly is sufficient to ensure, that the locking member is moved into that locking position.
Such an assembly is rather elaborate and complex. Furthermore, a lock rod interconnecting a key cylinder of a door handle module and a latch mechanism is susceptible to a brute force attack in conjunction with a break-in attempt conducted by a car thief. Hence, a car thief may force a screw driver or a comparable pointed and elongated tool through the outer door panel in order to manipulate the latch mechanism by manually shifting or by mechanically deforming the lock rod in order to unlock the latch mechanism.
In view of the foregoing, at least one aim is to provide an improved vehicle side door and another aim is to provide a greater resistance against brute force break-in attempts. Furthermore, other aims, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.